Leeson v HM Area Coroner for Manchester South (Donald McPherson & nine other interested parties) [2023] EWHC 62 (Admin) It is a very unusual coronial judicial review that has ten interested parties. Here nine of the ten were insurance companies with whom the bereaved widower, Mr McPherson, had taken out ‘excessive’ insurance on his wife’s life […]
The inquests into the deaths of the eleven bystanders and road users who were killed in the Shoreham Airshow Aircrash in 2015 have now concluded. These inquests were resumed in 2019 following the pilot’s acquittal of criminal charges of gross negligence manslaughter. Bridget Dolan KC was then appointed as Counsel to the Inquests and has […]
Dillon v Assistant Coroner For Rutland & N Leicestershire [2022] EWHC 3186 KB (Admin) Challenging a Coroner’s refusal to issue a report to prevent future deaths (‘a PFD report’)[1] is always going to be an uphill struggle. Whilst there is no coronial discretion, and a report is mandatory, if a coroner determines action should be […]
Read More… from PFD reports & PFD evidence: Discretion and Subjectivity
It is now six years since Singh J and the Lord Chief Justice considered the relationship between Accident Investigation Branch investigations (Rail, Air & Marine) and coroners’ inquests in ‘the Norfolk case’.[1] In that instance the issue was whether a coroner had the power to order the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (“AAIB”) to disclose a […]
Read More… from Sandilands, Shoreham and Sala: AIBs and the Coronial Investigation
R (Morahan) v HM Coroner for West London and others [2022] EWCA Civ 1410 After a flood of Article 2 decisions in the past few years many will be relieved to learn that the Court of Appeal have firmly rejected the challenge in Morahan (so there is no new law to get to grips with), […]
Read More… from Keeping it simple: Article 2 inquests are a relatively summary process